AmericaxReader: Trick or Treat
by EvanescingSky
Summary: A little Halloween story I pumped out for a DA contest. You've got no special plans for Halloween-you're certainly not going to Sadiq's party! But Alfred F. Jones has something else in mind...


You looked in the mirror at your costume, carefully examining your make-up. This year you were dressed as a corpse bride-not the most original, but you had been really busy this year, so you hadn't had time to put together an EPIC costume (like last year!). Satisfied, you set your tattered black and white veil on your head and brushed the fabric scraps back out of your face.

"Perfect," you said to yourself. Evening was falling outside. You hurried down the stairs and set the candy bowl by the door. You switched on your Halloween lights, then went to get yourself some pretzels to nibble on while you waited for the first of the trick-or-treaters to arrive. You knew that Sadiq was throwing some kind of party across town-but you weren't really interested.

The doorbell rang and you were on duty. Grabbing the candy bowl, you threw it open to gush about the cute little kids, only to see Alfred standing there in a Thor costume.

"Alfred," you said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the party!"

"Nah," he said with a shrug. He flashed that easy smile, which of late had been making your heart turn backflips. "I passed by and it looked crazy-plus I didn't see your car." His smile widened. "I wanted to see what you were up to!"

You sighed-you couldn't help but feel a bit lame for skipping out on the party-but you saw no reason to go if it really didn't interest you.

"Just handing out candy to the kids," you admitted.

"You're not trick-or-treating?" Alfred was aghast. "[Name]!"

"What?" you demanded, slightly defensive. "Alfred, we're way too old to be trick-or-treating!" You set the candy bowl down on the small table by your door.

"Not so!" Alfred exclaimed. "We're never too old! You carved a pumpkin, didn't you?"

"Well…yes, but that's different!" you argued.

"Come on!" Alfred begged. "Please! Come trick-or-treating with me! It'll be fun, I promise!" He made wide puppy-dog eyes at you.

"Aw…" you groaned. How could you resist that? Alfred's inner child was so adorable! "Fine," you agreed at last. "I'll go. But let's at least wait until it's dark out!"

"Okay!" Alfred said cheerily, bouncing into the house. "I'll just chill here then!" You smiled and rolled your eyes in mock exasperation. The phrase "make yourself at home" was practically a philosophy for Alfred.

"Just don't eat all my candy!" you warned him.

"Bye guys! Good luck!" you called after the retreating figures.

"Awesome costumes again, dudes and dudettes!" Alfred added, waving. As you shut the door, Alfred vanished into the hall, then returned with two pillowcases and an eager expression. "Ready to go?" he asked, forking one over to you.

You sighed. You couldn't believe you were going to do this. The last hour and a half had been great-you and Alfred had watched Scream 4 (Alfred's pick) and then had started Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber on Fleet Street (Your pick). You couldn't understand why you couldn't just keep doing that all night. But you had promised. So, reluctantly, you took the pillowcase.

"Don't look so down [Name]," Alfred scolded. "This is going to be awesome!"

"Whatever you say Alfred," you said, following him out the door.

As you had predicted, you got more than a few strange looks from the adults handing out candy (some were younger than you!), but Alfred was a master at grabbing the candy and bailing before they got a real good look at him.

"You know what we should do?" Alfred asked around a Snickers bar as you walked down the chilly sidewalk. You glanced up at the star-spangled sky.

"What?"

"Go visit Artie! I bet he's got tons of candy-the kids are too scared to ring his doorbell!" Alfred laughed.

"Does he even hand out candy?" you asked. You found it hard to imagine stuffy Arthur waiting around to hand out candy to a bunch of loud American kids.

"Probably," Alfred said, crinkling up his wrapper and stuffing it back into his pillowcase. "I mean, he's gotta have something, right?"

"Sure, let's go," you said. Why not? You were just along for the ride tonight. So the both of you headed off towards Arthur's house. Along the way you saw Peter wandering along in an Iron Man costume.

"Hey Peter, are you allowed to be out alone?" you asked as you handed him one of your lollipops.

Peter shrugged. "Why not?" he asked, tearing the wrapper off and cramming the candy into his mouth.

You smiled and looked over at Alfred as you walked on.

"Do you remember when we were that small?" you asked nostalgically.

At that moment, a car pulled up beside you, blaring music.

"Oi! Have you two seen Francis?" barked a familiar voice. You turned to see Gilbert and Antonio in lame pirate costumes, sitting in Gilbert's truck, clearly fresh from Sadiq's party.

"No, we haven't," Alfred said.

"Dammit!" Gilbert swore. "Where the hell has he gone?"

"If you see my fratello, tell him to give us a call!" Antonio cried as Gilbert sped off.

"Creeps," you muttered.

"What?" Alfred looked over at you.

"Oh, just Gilbert, really," you said, pulling Alfred along the sidewalk. "He was really rude to Elizabeta the other day. He won't leave her and Roderich alone."

"He can be kind of a douchebag," Alfred conceded.

At last you reached Arthur's house. Alfred enthusiastically rang the doorbell and waited, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. No answer. Alfred hammered on the door. There was a scuffling sound from inside, but no one came to the door.

"That's weird," Alfred said, peering curiously around.

"I have an idea," you announced. "Come on!" You crept around the side of the porch, Alfred right behind you. You grasped the window sill and stood on your tip-toes to peek in.

"See anything?" Alfred asked in a loud whisper.

"Nope! Let's check the other one!"

You moved stealthily along the side of the house to peer through the other window. You gasped.

"What is it?" Alfred demanded, trying to push you aside. You bumped him with your hip, knocking him off the window.

"I found Francis!" you exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"What's he doing?" Alfred was practically catatonic with anticipation.

"He's got Arthur pinned against the wall…"

"Are they fighting again?" Alfred hissed in your ear.

"Stop that!" you snapped crossly. "No…Francis is…Oh! Oh my God! That will never get out of my head!" you wailed.

"WHAT?" Alfred once again tried to oust you from your position at the window, but you were clutching the frame, making retching motions with one hand. "What happened?"

"They're kissing!" you finally got out.

"Ew!" Alfred gagged. Suddenly a devious grin spread across his face. "Hey, you know what?"

"What?" you asked, dropping down from the window.

"His candy's unguarded!" Your smile matched Alfred's. With a nod of assent, you both moved back around to the front of the house, jiggled the door open and stole the candy bowl from the dining room table. You could hear Francis and Arthur talking in low voices-or rather, you heard Francis's seductive French purr and Arthur's whimpers of protest.

_What a wimp, _you thought. _Just admit you like him already! _Then you felt a bit guilty-hadn't you been harboring developing feelings for Alfred since the summer? Shaking your head, you dumped your share of the candy into your bag and then you slipped out after Alfred.

"Should we take another look to see what he's up to?" Alfred asked, smirking. Even with as smirk, Alfred couldn't look evil-he was too sweet.

You shrugged and Alfred took this as agreement-he pulled you back to the window.

"Hey! I can't see them anymore!" he protested.

"Keep it d-" You didn't get to finish your sentence.

"What are you kids up to?" a gruff voice asked as a beam of light landed on you.

"Oh, shit," you breathed.

"It's the cops!" Alfred cried. _Thank you, oh master of the obvious, _you thought.

"Exactly! So let's GO!" You grabbed Alfred's hand and the two of you hightailed it through Arthur's backyard.

"Hey!" the cop yelled. A siren started up and you heard slight chaos inside Arthur's house as you vaulted over the fence.

"I know a shortcut to your house!" Alfred panted, grabbing your candy bag to carry it for you. You didn't ask how he knew-you just followed as he zig-zagged a path through several backyards, making more than one porch light snap on.

Eventually, you wound up back at your house and you dashed inside and bolted the door, winded from your run. Alfred wasn't even breaking a sweat-of course. He handed you your candy back with a lopsided grin.

"That was great, [Name]!" he exclaimed giddily.

"That was crazy!" you replied, tossing your shoes off and heading into the kitchen. With a cool glass of water for both of you, you went back into the living room. Alfred plopped down on the floor with his back against the couch.

"Now we have to trade candy," he ordered, dumping his bag out on the ground.

"You're such a little kid," you said, sitting down next to him.

"You know you love me," Alfred said, throwing an arm around you and pulling you close. You couldn't help but blush-had he guessed about your crush? But he let you go with a laugh and you relaxed-half relieved, half disappointed.

You flipped on a cheap slasher movie as you set about sorting candy-Alfred ended up with most of the good stuff, but it made him so happy you didn't mind. He started to yawn and eventually just laid down with his head shamelessly in your lap.

"Alfred!" you chided lightly.

"What?" he asked sleepily, gazing up at you. The light reflected brilliantly of both his glasses lenses and his bright blue eyes. You just shook your head and stroked his hair once or twice. You sat in silence for a while.

"[Name]…" Alfred said suddenly, sitting up halfway and turning to look at you.

"Yes?" you asked, your voice squeaking slightly to your embarrassment. You were so close! You could count Alfred's eyelashes, if you had wanted to.

"Thanks for going trick-or-treating with me," he said sincerely.

"No problem," you said, trying to brush it off. It really wasn't a big deal, was it?

"I mean it," he insisted. "I don't know many girls that would agree to it at our age." The weird thing-that was beginning to freak you out-was that he wasn't smiling. He was totally serious-a rare thing coming from Alfred.

"Well I…" your words died on your lips when you met his eyes, smoldering with intensity. He moved a bit closer.

"I wish I could walk by your side more often," he whispered.

You tried to come up with some great witty, romantic and simultaneously sexy remark, but all that came out was "…always."

Alfred leaned in closer and pressed his lips softly against yours. A thrill of electricity shot through you. You felt light-headed. Alfred, kissing you! Alfred…kissing you…Alfred…You went limp beneath his touch, feeling like your insides had been turned to jelly and your mind to cloud fluff.

When he drew back, his eyes were sparkling and you were sure yours were as well. You couldn't help the smile that started to spread across your face.

"[Name]?" Alfred asked softly.

"Yes?" you replied breathlessly.

"You've got chocolate on your nose."

"Oh."

"I'll get it." Alfred kissed the tip of your nose and you felt his tongue flick out to lap up the chocolate. He pulled back, grinning. "This was the best Halloween ever." He flopped back down on the ground and put his head in your lap once more, tearing into a Butterfingers. You shook your head with a wry smile. That was Alfred-focused as always.

"So romantic, Alfred," you teased, leaning over him. You had a burst of daring and bent over him to lay another kiss on his lips. Alfred was smiling up at you when you straightened up. He took a large bit of his candy bar.

"So what do you think?" he asked after a few moments.

"Of what?" you asked.

"Of my kissing, of course!" Alfred said it as if it were obvious.

"I think it tasted like Snickers," you replied, refusing to say anything more. A satisfied smirk settled on your face-yes, this had been the best Halloween yet. You wondered what next year might bring. Hmm…


End file.
